Submerged
by Ellen1996
Summary: Rachel and Quinn witness an accident. When Quinn tries to help, she ends up in more danger than she ever imagined. Faberry!
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Hello. I've been ridiculously busy lately with screenplays and trips to LA for pitches and agents. Anywho, I wanted to sneak this little one in!**_

**Chapter One**

"Quinn, wait up!"

The blonde turned around at the feeling of somebody tapping her on the shoulder. She pulled her earbuds out of her ears and paused her iPod, and smiled when she saw who it was.

"Hey baby." Quinn leaned forward and pecked the brunette's lips. Rachel smiled and intertwined her fingers with the blonde's as they started walking. Quinn tucked her iPod away into her backpack.

"I thought you were driving me home today? You promised…" Rachel pouted as they exited the school building. It was pretty much deserted; Mister Schuester had insisted they'd stay after school to rehearse for Sectionals.

"Oh…" Quinn trailed off. "We can't, Rach. My car…uh…"

"What? What happened to your car?" Rachel asked. Quinn grunted, and mumbled something inaudibly. Rachel's stomach dropped and she turned around so that she would block Quinn's walking path. "Quinn?"

"Rach, I had some engine trouble and my car broke down this morning on my way to school. I was early so I called the tow truck and I made it in time." It seemed more that the blonde was frustrated at the situation, and not really eager to talk about it. Rachel sighed in relief. "Thank God, the way you talked, it sounded like you wrapped it around a tree somewhere."

Quinn smiled weakly and wrapped an arm around the smaller girl. "It's fine, Rach. It just sucks that we have to go by foot now."

"Nah, we can talk. Or sing?" Rachel's eyes lit up. The corners of her girlfriend's mouth went up for a nanosecond, but she didn't verbally respond.

They were halted in their tracks by somebody running up to them. When Quinn turned around, she groaned at the prospect of the conversation ahead. The oafish, ridiculously tall boy ran up to them and smiled at Rachel, almost blatantly ignoring Quinn.

"Hey Rach…Good job on the rehearsal. I loved our duet."

Quinn's grip on Rachel's hand tightened just the slightest, but Rachel squeezed back immediately to put her at ease, and smiled politely at the boy. "Hello, Finn. Thank you, I thought you were quite good as well. A bit flat sometimes, but that happens to everybody. Well, except me, that is."

He blinked furiously, trying to decipher the 1000-words-per-minute rate that Rachel just showered him in, and nodded slowly. "Well, anyway. I'm free tonight. I was wondering if you'd like to go to Breadstix with me?"

"Uh…" Quinn emphatically cleared her throat. "I'm right here, Hudson."

"Well, not like a _date_…" He glanced at Quinn for a second before turning back to Rachel. "…I mean, unless you want it to be."

"Alright, you know what-…" Quinn started, stepping forward in-between Rachel and Finn, but the brunette pushed her back lightly to get the upperhand on the conversation again. "Thank you for the offer, Finn, but I'm dating Quinn and I'm very happy with her. However, I do hope you find yourself a beautiful, nice girl who feels the same way about you."

"The same way? Rachel, we went out for months!" He whined. "Before you started dating…_Her_."

The way that he spat out the reference to Quinn and made a loose hand gesture in her direction made Rachel see red. She stepped closer to him and narrowed her eyes, and for a second Finn must've thought that she wanted to kiss him, because he closed his eyes and leaned in.

She proceeded to smack him across the face.

He yelped and covered his face immediately, his eyes flying open. Quinn was left with unhinged jaw, staring at the exchange between the two.

"If you _ever _talk bad about Quinn again, I will castrate you."

Rachel spun around, grabbed Quinn's hand and walked away without a second glance at the boy, dragging her girlfriend along with her.

"Wow, Rach…I don't know what to say…" Quinn trailed off. "I thought you were a pacifist? Are you okay?"

"I'm not overly proud of what I did…" The brunette bit her lower lip. "But, I hope he learned his lesson. The audacity of that boy…"

"Thank you for defending my honor anyway. Although I probably would have punched him if you hadn't beaten me to it."

Rachel hummed as they walked down the road, hand in hand. Quinn leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "You _were _great in the duet, though. But I wish it wasn't with him."

"Well, we're both co-captains. It seems only fitting that we'd perform the romantic duet." Her face scrunched up. "Although I'm acting on stage, I mean, I don't love him. Especially not after what he just did. To be honest I wish I could perform the romantic duet with you. I mean, your voice is a silky alto, we blend well together."

"A _silky alto?_" Quinn amusedly raised an eyebrow. Rachel blushed and looked away. "Yeah, I mean. You have a very smooth voice."

"Keep talking…" Quinn fake-moaned. Rachel rolled her eyes and pushed her away slightly.

They turned left to a street that ran alongside the riverbank and Quinn pulled her backpack a little more over her shoulder and winced. "Ugh, God, I'm sore from practice."

"Sylvester?" Rachel asked. Quinn pulled a face. "Three freshman passed out yesterday and only then did she decide to give us a break. Seriously, that woman…"

"Well, it _is _giving you beautiful abs, though. So I'm not really complaining…"

"Rachel Barbra Berry. The pants. Keep it in." Quinn laughed. Rachel sighed and looked up, opening her mouth to say something, when completely out of the blue – all hell broke loose.

One second Quinn was standing next to her, laughing. The next, she was on her back on the other side of the road, and a car had sped up next to them, and was now speeding away. Rachel shrieked and ran towards the blonde. "QUINN! Oh my God! NO!"

"I'm fine!" Quinn got up quickly and stared at the car. "The hell…"

"D-did it hit you?! Are you-…" Rachel frantically looked her girlfriend over for injuries as she grabbed her shoulders tightly. Quinn gently pushed her hands away and shook her head. "I saw it coming and I jumped out of the way…What the hell is that guy's problem?"

They both stared at the other car, swerving dangerously, now noticing another car driving in the opposite direction towards it. It took both girls half a second to see what was coming.

"Oh my God, they're going to crash…" Rachel's voice shook as she muttered it. Quinn took a few steps forward, her eyes wide and her heart racing with the adrenalin.

When the two cars almost collided, and Rachel closed her eyes and looked away, and Quinn ran forward, only to freeze when the car that had almost run her over steered to the left at the last minute.

Sending it plunging into the lake.

The windows must've been open, Quinn noticed, because it started sinking almost instantly.

"Damn it…" Without hesitation, she dropped her backpack and started taking off her shoes and socks, before a hand on her arm stopped her. She snapped her head up, only to look into Rachel's concerned eyes. "Quinn, what are you doing?!"

"I have to go help them!" She yelled back, taking off her jacket as well and dropping it on the floor.

"Quinn, STOP! Don't! You don' t know how cold or deep it is, and-…"

Ignoring the brunette's protests, she took a deep breath and ran towards the bank, diving into the water graciously.

The first thought that hit her was that it was a big mistake.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The water was ridiculously cold, and she felt like she just jumped in a bath full of ice. Hypothermia flashed across her eyes and she realized that she had to be fast if she wanted to get out without risking her own death. She swam towards the car, which was now completely underwater, and looked inside. Her heart stopped.

In the car were four people: a man behind the wheel and a woman in the passenger seat, and two kids in the back seat. The man was conscious and alert, she noticed, as he was frantically tugging at his seatbelt. His window was open and she tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped, causing a lot of air bubbles to escape from his mouth. He yanked at his belt once again, before reaching into the glove compartment on the passenger side and pulling out a knife. Quinn's eyes widened and she jumped back instinctively, fearing for just one second that he'd lunge at her, but instead he reached down and cut through his seatbelt and she helped him get out of the car.

She motioned for him to swim to the surface, but he shook his head and pointed at his wife. Quinn reached forward to look into the car, and her stomach somersaulted at the sight of the woman. A big red haze was forming around her chest area, she must have been bleeding profusely.

Realizing that there was probably nothing she could do for her, she turned back to the man and shook her head, shoving him slightly and pointing up again. He seemed to be torn, but eventually chose against protesting again and started to swim upward. For a nanosecond, she scoffed at him for abandoning his family that easily.

She started to feel lightheaded from the oxygen deprivation, but swam towards the back of the car and peered inside there, trying to mentally prepare herself for what she might see.

There was a boy; he looked about five, with blonde hair and a Spiderman t-shirt on. Quinn saw that his neck was bent at a very unnatural angle and she almost felt like throwing up. The girl next to him looked about fifteen, and at first sight she only seemed unconscious, without visible injuries. So Quinn swam in through the driver's door, unlocked the seatbelt – by which point she started to see black spots, but she focused on getting the girl to safety. She grabbed the girl by the arms and with great effort, managed to pull her out of the car.

She realized that she felt herself starting to pass out, but she wanted…_needed _so desperately to get the girl above water. The last three feet, she felt the strength leave her body. In a last panicked attempt, she shoved the girl upward to the surface, hoping that she'd surface one way or another and that somebody would help her.

Then, everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Distorted, odd-sounding voices reached her ears, and she tried to turn her head away from them, but then discovered she couldn't move. As she struggled more against her invisible bindings, the voices grew louder and closer. Finally, after a few torturous moments, she remembered everything. The car…The water…The girl…_Rachel_.

With a gasp, she shot up and lifted her head, only to be met with an incredible amount of pain. She groaned and winced, falling backwards against the bed.

"Quinn, baby? C-can you hear me? Can you open your eyes? Please?"

_Rachel_. She wanted to whine. _I'm here._

Slowly and gently, she opened one eye. She saw an immensely concerned looking brunette stare back at her, hovering over her body. When she opened the other eye, her vision cleared.

"Rachel…" She moaned weakly, her voice sounding creaky and distant.

"Oh thank God…I was so worried…" Rachel licked her lips, her hand gently stroking the other girl's.

"Rach…W-water…"

"I'll get you some…O-of course. But I have to go outsi-…" Quinn cut her off by grasping her arm and shaking her head. "_Water."_

Rachel's eyes started filling with tears and soon enough, her frame shook with the heavy sobs that came out of her mouth. But through everything, she managed to nod slowly and smile weakly. "Yeah…Water."

"D-did I…W-what happened?"

"I called 911, and I saw the man come up and helped him to the surface. But then…It was taking you long to come up. Too long…I knew something bad had happened. And then the girl came up and you didn't and I-I…" She cut herself off, the tears now making it impossible to talk. Quinn tried to reach forward to comfort her girlfriend, but a new wave of pain shook through her and she gritted her teeth. Rachel noticed immediately and she gently eased her back onto the bed. "D-don't Quinn. You broke 3 ribs. Well…_I _broke 3 ribs."

"Wha-…?" Quinn frowned. "W-what?"

"I dived in after you when I noticed you weren't coming up. I'm no swimming expert but I do know CPR…A-and…_God_, you weren't breathing, baby. S-so I gave you CPR."

"And you broke my ribs?"

"Most people that perform proper CPR break ribs, Quinn…I had to use an excessive amount of force on your chest to keep your heart beating, and-…" Quinn could see that Rachel was getting worked up, so she reached her hand forward to put her finger on the brunette's lips.

"It's fine." Quinn whispered. "Rach…What happened to the people in the car?"

"Oh, well…uh…" Rachel bit her lip and took a shaky breath to steady herself. "The little boy and woman died…B-but the man was brought to the hospital with minimal injuries."

Quinn's throat went dry. "And the girl?"

Rachel threaded her fingers through the blonde's hair. "Quinn, you should rest. You've been through a lot, I should call your mother and tell her-…"

"Rachel…" Quinn narrowed her eyes at her. She didn't want to be threatening towards the brunette, but she needed to know. Her gut was clenching uncomfortably.

The diva seemed ill at ease, but took a deep breath and smiled weakly through her tears. "She survived. You saved her. But…_I don't know all the details, but_…She had severe nerve damage. S-she's paralyzed, baby."

Quinn looked away from Rachel's face, as her own accident flashed before her eyes. Weeks spent in a hospital room, intense physical therapy and lots and lots of pain. She didn't wish it to her worst enemy, certainly not to the girl.

Then, her mind wandered to something else. What if…

Rachel saw the look on her face and shook her head. "No, Quinn. No."

Quinn snapped her head back to her. "What?!"

"You pulling her out had nothing to do with her paralysis. You didn't make it worse by helping her, Quinn. I know that's what you're thinking right now."

"What if I did, Rachel?" Quinn shot back. "What if it was me? What if I aggravated it?!"

"Quinn-…"

"No. Leave, Rach. I want to be alone."

"I'm sorry, baby. I know…paralysis is a sore subject…I d-didn't want to tell you. I-…"

When she realized that the blonde wasn't moving or responding, she nodded quickly and quietly left the room.

_**A/N: Lifeguard here. A good resuscitation attempt breaks ribs. The more you know.**_


End file.
